The surgeon and his assistant exited the “staff only” doors four hours later than we anticipated. They stopped in the hall, exchanging serious looks and hushed comments. My mom and I hovered in our designated waiting area.

The neurologist approached us and began reporting on my father's brain tumor removal. “That was a very challenging surgery – the most difficult one I have ever performed – because of the excessive bleeding. He lost a lot of blood – 800 cc’s."

We stood on a threshold. The next words out of this man’s mouth would define our family’s trajectory. Which direction would his summary go? Life? Death?

“In the end, it was a good surgery. We’ll have to see if we did any damage once he wakes up, but overall, I’m very pleased.”

Thankfully, ours was news of life. My father is making a strong, even remarkable recovery. Thank God.

But the news isn’t always positive.

I met a woman in the hospital whose 17 year-old daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident and remains unresponsive two months later. The mom said, “I didn’t used to be a praying person but I am now.”

I asked this mom if I could share her daughter’s story with my praying community to which she replied, “Of course. Please do. Her name is Kailyn.” As you feel led, please pray for this family. Their lives are on a difficult course.

It seems every day should be valued as a gift where people are loved, conversations treasured, and gratitude expressed for breath and time. But schedules are busy and moments slip by. A few days visiting the neurology ward is a sober reminder of priorities.

I don’t profess to understand or comprehend the answers to why life plays out as it does but I do know that in the midst of uncertainty, God is present; in adversity, He gives peace; in tragedy, His comfort is real; in celebration, He rejoices.

And when the ground beneath my feet quakes, I come back to truth.

God is good.God is God and I am not.Thy will be done.​With love and gratitude,Shelaine

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In The Midst

Author:​Shelaine Strom

I am a writer by circumstance, a career and life coach, instructor and speaker sidelined in 2012 by a broken-down jaw.​I am a writer by design, one willing to venture down a different path in a season of pain and waiting, offering my words and watching God use them for His purposes.

I am a writer by choice who documented the journey of pain, the decisions made around an invasive surgery, the miracles and the healing process.

And now I am a writer, career and life coach, instructor and event speaker with stories to tell of God in the midst of it all.